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Well, there are at least [two](https://www.pcgamer.com/software/linux/im-brave-enough-to-say-it-linux-is-good-now-and-if-you-want-to-feel-like-you-actually-own-your-pc-make-2026-the-year-of-linux-on-your-desktop/) [editors](https://www.pcgamer.com/software/linux/ive-spent-30-years-with-microsoft-but-linux-and-pop-os-might-have-converted-me/) at PC Gamer who've switched in the last five months alone, so who knows where we're going? 🙂

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I just want to buy the original again... But strangely, they never sell it; only Doom.

Sure, I've almost certainly got a copy or two of this around here somewhere - but it would be nice to have a 'prepackaged' version from GOG.com or Steam.

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That is hilarious. 😆

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Hamachi is about to go out of business

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyI don't think I even knew 4 nm was a thing yet.

My Zen 5 AMD CPU is built on a 4 nm process, but 3 nm is also a thing these days.

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I'm definitely not going to be chucking mine when it arrives... 😅

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Quoting: Renzatic Gear

Quoting: Cyba.CowboySteam Frame (stupid name!).

Yeah, but what else could they call it while still keeping in theme?

Just about anything else would have been better. Steam "Frame" doesn't sound cool, it doesn't suggest or imply what the product does, and it isn't the most marketable name.

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In my wardrobe, I have both the PlayStationVR and the PlayStationVR 2. The original model had loads of support, but has such a low refresh rate and resolution that you can't play for more than fifteen minutes without severe headaches (which seems to get worse with age). I don't have that problem with the PlayStationVR2 - but there's virtually no support for it!

Hopefully the Steam Frame - which is a stupid name - will change all that.

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I don't think I even knew 4 nm was a thing yet.

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My year of the Linux desktop was somewhere around 2000, I can't remember exactly. The Linux desktop sucked really hard back then, but so did Windows 98, so.

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I believe there's some interesting stuff about Amazon in Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin's "Chokepoint Capitalism". It ain't pretty. Maybe not quite as sheerly criminal as Ticketmaster . . . well, except for the labour practices . . . but pretty bad.

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Let's go through your arguments then, shall we? First, you agree with some of my points, so I'll only counter where your points differ:

While Amazon does host third-party sellers, your declaration that this facilitates small business overlooks the predatory nature of the platform's ecosystem. Amazon is both a referee and player, making it a clear conflict of interest. During 2020, Amazon systematically used non-public data from third-party sellers to identify successful products and then launch competing Amazon Basics versions to undercut them. Additionally, Amazon takes advantage of algorithmic bias when promoting marketplace items prioritising products with higher profit margins for Amazon even if they are more expensive or lower quality than third-party alternatives. Often sellers that try to sell outside Amazon's ecosystem are penalised.

The existence of other competitors does not disprove the abuse of market dominance - It merely indicates the market is large enough to sustain a few giants. However Amazon is the largest of these with the greatest marketshare, and is still the one to focus attention on. Amazon has successfully driven out competition in niche markets. The book industry (for instance) is nearly monopolised by Amazon. forcing independent bookstores to close or struggle immensely.

Before Amazon there were thousands of independent online retailers. Now the market is heavily consolidated, thanks to Amazon's damaging influence. The presence of Temu and Ali Express does not negate the fact that the biggest player, Amazon, has used its logistics network and capital reserves to engage in predatory pricing (selling below cost) to crush competitors. Only to raise the prices later, once dominance is secured.

Your contention that supporting local business requires dropping globalist capitalism, i.e. some things need global scale: This is a false dichotomy. One can advocate for fair labour practices, ethical tax contributions, and consumer protection without rejecting globalisation or efficiency of scale. The issue is not globalisation itself, but the unregulated concentration of power that allows a single entity to dictate terms globally.

Your argument relies on a "straw man" fallacy, i.e. that criticising Amazon equates to wanting to abolish all global trade. The reality is that Amazon's specific business practices - data exploitation, predatory pricing, and anti-competitive behaviour - These all harm the small businesses and consumers. Amazon is a monopoly that uses its size to stifle market diversity.

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Quoting: GustyGhostThere is no The year of the Linux desktop.

There is only Your year of the Linux desktop.

And for me, that was 2014.

Mine was 2015 (PC) and 2023 (PPC - pocketcomputer). Still speaking about 2025 as year of Linux desktop - you see, I don't argue with my personal situation. ;-]

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Am I the only one who thought Solo wasn't THAT bad? But yeah, in general, movies don't seem to care about writing anymore. There aren't many still being made with a compelling plot and characters that aren't flat as cardboard. Not only Disney. From that perspective, no need to be afraid of AI. It can't possibly be worse.

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Quoting: GustyGhostThere is no The year of the Linux desktop.

There is only Your year of the Linux desktop.

And for me, that was 2014.

Good point. Mine was 2014 as well. That's when I discovered that Linux was good enough as a daily driver that I didn't need to go back to Windows.

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UGH this whole thing makes me so mad. Steam REALLY has a chance to do something awesome with the verified program and they CONTINUE to do more of this garbage which makes the entire program completely worthless.

If some random person buys a steam deck and sees that the new Forza open world driving game is "verified" they'll probably be super excited! Then they will load it up and it'll run like complete ass and get like 20 fps which is unusable in a fast paced driving game, and they'll never trust any "verified" other game ever again. 😡

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As neolith says, I'm surprised Lego Batman was Verified. It feels like it's going to run like absolutely dogwater, which only asks the question: what criteria does Valve use to classify games as Verified?

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Better late than never. Controller support and local split screen is next on my bucket list. I never thought they would be possible before, but here we are.

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LoL. I just love Valve's sense of humor and whimsy. 😆

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🤣

this is so awesome. I love it.

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well when it comes to Disney Star Wars and creativity ...that ship has sailed sadly day1, even AI has more soul.

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie is expected to flop worse than the Solo movie, that should tell everything of the state of Star Wars

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Quoting: g000hThey abuse their market dominance to drive competitors out of business, they damage small businesses. After they have killed off competition, they increase the price of their own replacement products, so the consumer loses out. [...] I urge people to move away from buying things on Amazon.

Clearly, you've already done so personally, or you might have noticed the contradictions to your talking points. I'm not trying to defend Amazon by any means, but your statement is not entirely accurate -- just the usual talking points against big business. In fact, I've noticed that fewer and fewer products actually have Amazon as a seller anymore. Most items are sold by marketplace sellers, often as "fulfilled by Amazon". Their software often promotes the marketplace item over their own (which is, admittedly, more expensive). This kind of suggests that they are in fact facilitating and benefitting small business.

As to abusing market dominance, there are loads of online shopping sites that do the exact same thing as Amazon (basically, modern mail-order) -- for example, Best Buy, Walmart, Temu, AliExpress, Etsy, even eBay could count, and many more -- so obviously Amazon is not succeeding at driving other online shopping competitors out of business.

That being said, I don't question your first two points -- or your last two points either. Those are typical of any modern mega-corporation these days. To support local, small business you would have to drop globalist capitalism and focus on local production and local retail of those products -- and be willing to pay more for them too. Some things, like computer tech and video game production, do not lend themselves well to a local economy. They need the economies of scale that globalisation provides.

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Quoting: StellaMandatory disclaimer that damage caused to your controller caused by dropping it isn't covered by warranty...

Drop it on a stiff padded surface. That's what I did! :D

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There is no The year of the Linux desktop.

There is only Your year of the Linux desktop.

And for me, that was 2014.

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Quoting: LoudTechieIt's also scary, since I want to design complex tools and not be thrown under the bus next revolution.

Haha yes, that is also very true. But I think as long things are done with best will it is very unlikely. The revolution usually starts when something goes very very wrong.

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This is like a decade late, right?

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Quoting: suchSo with all those reviews not one tested durability?

Well not by throwing it through the room, maybe crushing it with a rock?

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Originally I passed it off as being too expensive for my use case, but screw it I really want one of these now!

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Bold statement. Even pro-AI people don't claim that it has a soul... 😄

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Quoting: F.Ultra

Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: F.UltraPayment was never the issue though and AMD is and have been for years a HDMI licensee. There is nothing with these patches that would or could make HDMI Forum not get payed exactly what they where payed before.

I think the logic (from an artificial scarcity hoarding viewpoint) was that if they didn't keep the spec super secret, companies could just make stuff without giving them money. Which they didn't like the sound of. But, as you say, you still need to give them money (and AMD did) for the compliance tests and the sticker, and that's where the prestige is. "Proper" hardware companies will still give them money to remain "proper," and fly-by-night won't-conform-to-the-spec companies weren't going to give them money either way.

But companies making stuff without giving them money would be breaking trademark law and thus open to be sued by HDMI Forum, aka the reason that you pay for the specs is not to get access to the specs but to be allowed to sell products labelled with HDMI. And the fee for the specs are minuscule, only $10k per year (or $5k for low volume manufacturers), the real money is the per sold item royalty (up to $0.2 for high volume and flat $1 for low volume) since that times millions of devices per year adds up quite significantly.

And fly-by-night would not be affected by open drivers since they already have the specs (they are ofc widely spread in China for free). But I guess that some of the members where afraid of that and others have now countered, we simply don't know who it was since all 80+ companies have voting rights (and their votes are not made public).

Trademark law is weak compared to what the HDMI forum wields to keep others from releasing HDMI compatible stuff.
I'm talking copyright, contract law and patent.

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